Much is happening right now. For those of you who have reached out searching for ways to help, here are some of the activities taking place in our City:

The Dream Center on Hasbrouck Street is accepting donations on 9/23 until 7pm. Zulimar Restaurant on Washington Street will be accepting donations on 9/24. A group of community volunteers will be accepting donations on 9/26 and 9/28.

#Knowyourlevel#PFOS in #Newburgh. Lots has happened these last two weeks. We had the DOH come and present to our community the results of the first 370 individuals who were tested for PFOS. I participated in that meeting. It was packed house at Kaplan Hall.

People had lots of questions and at times were frustrated with the perception that the DOH had no direct answer to calm our fears. To this I say, I am glad that there is a push to study the impact of emergent contaminants as introduced by Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney. The Investing in Testing Act authorizes $15 million for a two year study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to determine the health impact of PFOS contamination in drinking water, and The Clean Water Healthy Communities Act would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to test unregulated contaminants in communities with fewer than 10,000 people. The current EPA requirement for testing only applies to communities with more than 10,000 residents. But this effort would be in the coming years if it passes. In the meantime, I am encouraging all to get tested.

This is one of the questions currently being debated between the Executive office and the Legislative body: Should department heads live in the City of Newburgh? According to legislation passed in 2014, the answer is yes. Recent vacancies have made it necessary to discuss the matter once more. To that end, I’ve asked for data that supports or negates the concept. More on that when it becomes available. In the meantime, what is your take on the matter. Please fill out the quick survey below.

In case you missed it, click here to read Monday’s THR article on the subject.